For 57 years, patients have been receiving Coumadin to reduce the risk of blood clots. What most of them don’t know is that their “drug” really rat poison- warfarin. That is not really the problem (other than the “yech” factor)- it’s that the effective dosage is difficult to ascertain and maintain. Too low a dose- and the potential for bleeding out exists; too much warfarin- and the patient’s blood congeals, precluding blood flow. Certain foods (broccoli, spinach, among other Vitamin K laden vegetables) interact with the drug, and each patient has a different response to warfarin; women with menstrual cycles, obviously, have a more difficult time maintaining the optimal dosage. Basically, the only way to determine the effective dosage is to monitor the blood clotting time (which is not performed daily or weekly)- it’s “hit or miss”.
Continue reading Big changes afoot (pun intended) for blood clot control…
